


Bright New Futures That We've Seen

by frith_in_thorns



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Dubious Astrophysics, Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon, Post-Endgame, Technobabble, renegotiating friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-22
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-14 05:09:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2179116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frith_in_thorns/pseuds/frith_in_thorns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Several months after returning to Earth, Kathryn Janeway visits Seven's first command.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bright New Futures That We've Seen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cosmic_llin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmic_llin/gifts).



The little station glittered against the black of space, reflecting light both from the distant star and the pair of gas giants locked together in their dual orbit around it. A quirk in the alignment of their electromagnetic fields kept the two planets balanced around their mutual gravitational pull rather than crashing together.

Finding a stable orbital position around them for the scientific outpost must have been an incredible challenge, Kathryn mused, watching it grow slowly but steadily in her window as they cruised towards it at sub-warp speed. No wonder Starfleet had requested Seven for the project.

Her thoughts having thus strayed to Seven, they remained there for the rest of the flight while she paced her cabin with growing impatience. She was well aware that she wasn't a good passenger these days; it was the main reason she had resolutely kept away from the bridge during this voyage despite the generous invitation of the captain to wander anywhere she liked. Still, she couldn't help thinking that surely on _Voyager_ this journey would have been over far sooner.

It had been almost a year since they had finally arrived home. Some days it felt like no time at all had passed since then, and yet how eternal each of those years in the Delta Quadrant had stretched… In less than a month there would be celebrations, and speeches, and she would have to figure out all over again how to say the things she had already said after their arrival. But the crew would be all together again, at last, with their loved ones. It had already been too long since she'd seen or heard from some of them.

Like Seven, who had been out with these binary gas giants for the last four months. She had kept in dutiful contact, but her messages were brief and amounted to little more than concise summaries of her logs, notably short on personal impressions or feelings. Not that that necessarily meant anything, with Seven.

Her comm link buzzed. "Captain Janeway, we're coming into transporter range now."

Even though she had been anticipating their arrival for hours, she abruptly felt as if she wasn't quite ready. But she had already handed over her small valise to be shipped down separately, and her uniform didn't need the last check she gave it anyway. "On my way."

It was only a small transport vessel, but its captain still met her with all due formality for her departure. He was very young for his post, and definitely intimidated by her. She was encountering that a lot from the younger Starfleet generation. Odd feeling, to have become a legend at her age. Odd, and unwelcome.

"Captain Nasir," she greeted him. "Thank you for a very pleasant voyage." Her impatience wasn't his fault.

"It's been an honour to have you aboard, Ma'am," he said, shaking her hand.

Neither of their schedules contained time to linger. Kathryn stepped onto the small transporter platform and a moment later she had been beamed onto the research station.

Its newness was immediately apparent, as was its utilitarian design. Surfaces gleamed, but there was also a slight air of almost-but-not-quite-finishedness about the place.

Seven was waiting at parade rest in front of the transport platform, standing very straight with her chin tilted up and her hands clasped behind her back. "Captain," she said.

"Seven," Kathryn replied, warmly. She had expected to greet her with a hug, but the stiffness in Seven's bearing made her reconsider. She settled for a formal handshake instead, firmly returned. "How have you been?"

"Very well, thank you." Seven was wearing close-fitting black trousers and a green shirt. Not Starfleet, but it could almost pass for a uniform at first glance. Certainly it didn't stand out in the way the bodysuits she had worn on _Voyager_ had done. "Did you have a satisfactory journey?"

"Yes, very nice." Seven gestured her out into the corridor and Kathryn looked around in frank appreciation. "Impressive station you've built here."

"It's currently 87% operational," Seven said, unmistakably proud. "Not including some purely cosmetic features." She didn't volunteer further details, though.

"Impressive," Kathryn repeated. A pause followed, broken only by the sound of their footsteps on the floor. It began to become awkward as they continued down the corridor.

It had no doubt been naive of her to expect or hope that it _wouldn't_ be awkward. This wasn't the most auspicious sort of reunion — there was very little difference between an official Starfleet assessment and an inspection, after all, and no officer expected people to _enjoy_ being inspected. Some degree of tension was inevitable.

"The command centre," Seven said, opening the door with her palm print. Kathryn followed her through and looked around in appreciation. She recognised the aesthetics of the astrometrics lab — she would have suspected Seven's hand in the design of the room even if she hadn't already known.

"What kind of readings are you getting?" she asked. "Anything interesting?"

"We're still taking data to calibrate baselines," Seven said. She nodded at the Starfleet technician in yellow seated at one of the consoles, who had looked up avidly as they stepped inside. "This is my assistant, Jey. Lieutenant Jey Foress. I find their work to be very satisfactory."

Jey beamed. Clearly they had been working with Seven for long enough to recognise that for the high praise it was. 

"I assume you would like the complete tour right away?" Seven asked.

"I'd love that," Kathryn said, with a smile. It didn't manage to make Seven relax; she was clearly nervous about showing her captain around her new command. It was a new insecurity, one which Kathryn wished she could disperse with an order. If only things were that simple.

The tour was thorough but efficient. Seven started from one end of the tiny station and worked along to the other, while Kathryn tried to take notes fast enough to not slow down their progress too significantly. The outpost was small right now and manned only by Seven and Lt. Foress, but it could easily be expanded by adding more sections if the magnetic field research paid dividends. Already that seemed likely. 

And Seven was clearly very proud of her first command. _Rightfully so._ Maybe it would have been a kindness in some ways for Kathryn to have stepped aside and let a stranger conduct its first assessment, but she still couldn't be sorry to miss seeing it for herself. Although she had tried very hard not to, she had worried about Seven over these last few months. Life in the Federation must be very strange after the straightforward discipline of serving aboard a starship.

"Are you enjoying yourself here, Seven?" she asked.

Seven looked up as if surprised. "Of course," she said. "The work we're doing could prove to be of great importance."

"Without a doubt," Kathryn said. "But that's not quite what I asked."

Seven acknowledged the point with a tilt of her head. "I believe I am," she said. "Although it's… strange sometimes. I expect to hear your voice over the comm, giving me orders."

"You seem to be doing excellently on your own accord."

"I'm glad you think so," Seven said, and they both paused as they remembered Kathryn's official capacity. Awkwardness seeped back.

The comm system buzzed. "Seven, we've got a problem." Jey's voice was tense.

"What is it?" Seven asked. She gestured for Kathryn to turn back towards the command room with her.

"Some sort of electromagnetic solar flare is approaching. A violent one."

Seven's steps grew faster. "Does this happen often?" Kathryn asked.

"No," Seven said. "Only once before, and the resultant fluctuations nearly knocked us out of orbit."

Jey practically flew towards them as they opened the door. "It's even bigger than the last one," they said, face drawn and scared.

"Remain calm," Seven said.

"Seven —"

"Lieutenant, that's an _order_ ," Seven said, sharply.

Jey froze, and took a couple of breaths. The effort of forcing their fear down showed in their face. "Okay," they said, after a moment. "I'm calm."

Seven nodded coolly. "Good. I need your help."

"What about me?" Kathryn asked.

Seven tipped her head for a moment, considering. "Take Jey's station. Jey, go to the emitters and keep the comm channel open." She seemed to catch herself, looking at Kathryn. "If that suits you, Captain."

"Of course it does," Kathryn said. "Just give me the orders."

Jey had already vanished down the corridor. Kathryn took over their station and scrolled quickly through the controls, trying to get a clear picture of all the systems she had access to in the brief time left before the flare hit.

"I'll talk you through what to do," Seven said. "We've developed some unique systems here. A few of them work somewhat counter-intuitively."

She was justifying; trying to let Kathryn know that there wouldn't be time to explain to her the result of each action. On _Voyager_ , after all, Captain Janeway would have expected to be kept informed of what her crew were trying, and demanded to know the probable consequences in advance for anything unfamiliar. "I'm not in command here, Seven; you are," she said, firmly. "Treat me the same as Jey."

Seven gave her a sharp nod. And then the magnetic flare, represented in bright reds and violets on the large display, impacted the finely-balanced fields around the planets and the whole station rocked, alert sirens blaring.

"Jey, keep the shield frequency aligned," Seven snapped over the din. "Captain, you should be receiving the polarity data; read it out for them." Her own fingers were flying over her console in a complicated dance from which she didn't look up. "Captain! Engage the stabilisers."

They fought to hold the tiny station together as it jarred and spun around them. When it finally steadied, and Seven reported with a relieved breath that the flare seemed to have passed, Kathryn was mildly shocked to realise that two hours had gone by, time collapsing in a rush of urgency and adrenaline. The yellow-orange gas planets spun on sedately, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Good work Jey — both of you," Seven said. Her eyes widened as the words left her mouth, as if she hadn't expected to find herself saying them.

"Thank you, Commander," Kathryn said, gravely, before Seven could retract.

"That used to be your line," Seven said. The corners of her lips were curving upwards.

"It's the commanding officer's line," Kathryn corrected her.

* * *

Seven's quarters hadn't been part of the official tour. Kathryn looked around appraisingly as she seated herself at the small table. 

She was pleased to see how many personal touches there were. The portable regeneration unit was in one corner, of course, but there was also a comfortable sofa as well as the dining table with its three chairs. (Seven had mentioned earlier that she and Jey often ate together in here, although tonight it was just the two women.) At regimented distances along the walls were hung various photographs of _Voyager's_ crew, and a shelf contained several items which were decorative rather than functional — clearly gifts.

"You seem very settled here," Kathryn commented. She sipped from the mug of coffee which Seven had produced from the replicator without waiting for a request. "It suits you."

Seven nodded seriously. "I'm enjoying civilian research more than I expected."

"This station _is_ mostly Starfleet funded," Kathryn couldn't help pointing out. 

"Dinner," Seven announced, setting down the dish she had just finished programming. "Are you trying to persuade me to stay in the military?"

"My next command just won't be the same without you," Kathryn said. She couldn't help noticing that Seven seemed much more able to persuade food replicators to behave than she ever could.

"Surely an admiral won't be short of potential recruits?" Seven asked.

Her smile could almost be considered sly. "I'm not an admiral yet," Kathryn protested. "I just can't escape the rumour mill, can I?"

"This one has reached the Delta Quadrant by now," Seven said. "I heard it from Neelix."

Kathryn laughed, and then sighed ruefully. "Well, don't repeat it too loudly. I think Admiral Paris intended it to be a surprise for the one-year celebration."

"Then he should have done a better job keeping it from his son."

"Agreed." They exchanged amused glances.

Silence fell again as they ate. It wasn't in the least awkward this time; only contented. 

"So, Captain, have we passed your assessment?" Seven asked eventually.

"With flying colours," Kathryn assured her. "Especially with that little solar flare demonstration. I'm going to endorse your request for additional personnel to be assigned here. Your command should expand very soon."

"Command is an… interesting experience," Seven said. "I have to say, I'm enjoying the challenge."

"I'm glad to hear it." It suited Seven, and Kathryn suspected she would only continue to grow into it. "By the way, you may have noticed I'm not actually your captain these days. Why don't you start calling me Kathryn?"

Seven's eyes widened in reflexive denial, and Kathryn stifled the urge to laugh. She had already experienced this reaction from several of her former senior staff. 

"Kathryn," Seven experimented, with the hesitancy of speaking a foreign language. "I… will consider it." As if worried she had given offence, she offered quickly, "I'm very glad it was you who carried out the assessment. I — I had missed you."

"I've missed you too," Kathryn said, sincerely. She raised an eyebrow. "My job offer's still open, if you want to reconsider."

Seven actually laughed. "If this station falls out of orbit I might reconsider. Until then…"

"I quite understand." 

It was getting late. The time had slipped away while she'd been in Seven's company even more readily than it had earlier. "Shall we reconvene in the morning?" Seven suggested, having caught her eyes straying to the clock.

Kathryn yawned. "Excellent idea. There's still, what, three days before my transport back to Earth? Plenty of time to continue catching up."

She stood and pushed her chair in, and held out a hand. But Seven bypassed it in favour of a hug that was slightly stiff with unfamiliarity, but genuine. "Goodnight, Kathryn."

"Goodnight, Seven," Kathryn said. "Happy regenerating."

No need to worry about whether their friendship would survive without the enforced structure of _Voyager_. It had begun to change and grow, just like Seven herself, making the answer a certainty.


End file.
